At around 1AM last night, convicted steroid smuggler, Brian Wainstein, was shot dead in Constantia.

According to News24, two men entered his family home, went into his bedroom and shot him several times.

Lying next to Wainstein was his wife and young child, but neither were wounded.

Although police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Andre Traut on Friday confirmed the death, he stated the motive for the murder is yet to be determined, and that the gunmen took three cellphones when they left the house.

However:

Sources with knowledge of what happened say it appears Wainstein, also known as the “steroid king”, was the target of a hit.

Here’s some history:

In 2007 The Irish Times reported that Weinstein was jailed for an effective four months for illegally selling body building steroids around the world from a south Dublin address.

It said Wainstein “received orders for the banned drugs by e-mail from customers all over the world, including the US”.

The Irish Times said Wainstein, who used the name “Barry Benjamin” in e-mails, had pleaded guilty in the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to nine charges relating to the possession, sale and distribution of the substances.

Then, holding South African and Israeli citizenships, Wainstein – who went by several aliases including Brian Benjamin – was arrested in Cape Town in 2013:

An August 2014 court document on the matter said the US government wanted him extradited on various criminal charges relating to “the illegal importation and marketing of various drugs, including anabolic steroids, in the United States”.

It was not immediately clear what had become of this matter.

Weinstein also reportedly worked via Canada, shipping steroids there from China.

Times LIVE reports that last year, Cape Town police “nabbed Wainstein for alleged possession of uncut diamonds as he cruised around town in a luxury car”:

Missing number plates on Wainstein’s black BMW 750 attracted the attention of the police in November. The same car was parked in his yard on Friday next to another luxury BMW. Neither have number plates.

He was supposed to appear in court at the time but he was released on “police bail” the night before his appearance.

Damn, just how deep does this underworld thing go? Whatever it is, we’ll probably never know unless we know, you know?